BD 581 
.B7 
Copy 1 



BD 581 
.B7 
Copy 1 



MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 



THE CLOSING LECTURE 



">' 



SECOND ANNUAL COURSE OF LECTURES 



BEFORE THE 



MARYLAND INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 



BY NtcfBTlOOKS, A. M. 



^ublfsfjeTi bx! tl)c Socfetj 




BALTIMORE: 

WOODS k CRANE, P R I N l L K 



1 



Rooms of the Md. Institute of Education^ 
March 10, 1843. 

Dear Sir — 

At a recent meeting of the Maryland Institute of Educa- 
tion, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : 

''Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be returned to N. C. Brooks, 
Esq. for the very able and interesting Lecture delivered by him, on the 1st 
mst. before the Institute, and that the Recording Secretary be requested to 
solicit from him a copy of the same for publication." 

In communicating the foregoing, I discharge an agreeable duty, and sin- 
cerely hope that you will comply with the wishes of the Institute, expressed 
in the latter clause of their resolution. 
With great respect. 

Yours, &c. 

AARON B. HOYT, 



N. C. Brooks,,Es<i. 



Recording Secretary. 



} 



High School, 
Baltimore, March 11, 1843. 

Dear Sir — 

It is peculiarly gratifying to me to learn that my late humble 
effort before the Maryland Institute of Education, has, in any way, met the 
approbation of that body; and I am duly sensible of the honor conferred 
on me in the request which has been made for a copy for publication. 

Whatever estimate I may put upon the Lecture, myself; and however I 
might have preferred, that the funds devoted to this purpose, had been ap- 
propriated to the furtherance of other objects of the Association, I do not 
feel at liberty to withhold it ; and accordingly place . it at your disposal, with 
the regret it is not more worthy of the kind consideration with which the 
Institute has been pleased to regard it. 

I am, dear sir. 

Very respectfully, yours, 

N. C. BROOKS. 
A. B. Hoyt, Esq. 

Rec. Sec'y Md.Inst. of Education. 



MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND 



THEIR 



NATURE AND RELATIONS 



When the "Schoolmaster is abroad," or at home within the 
walls of his Academy, it is his duty to teach. I have selected, 
therefore, for this evening's entertainment, a subject more likely 
to afford instruction than amusement ; and suited rather for the 
conveyance of thought, than the embellishment of mere words. 
And in the reflections which I have to offer upon it, I have 
sought to adopt, as best for a mixed audience, a happy medium 
between the attainments of the man of science, and the common 
reader ; just as a skilful gunner, who would shoot the farthest, 
takes an angle of forty-five degrees, in his aim. 

Tradition and the dim rays of human reason cast upon the 
minds of the ancient philosophers the dim shadows of a Deity. 
In the regularity and splendor of the heavens above — the sym- 
metry and beauty of the earth around them, and the myriad 
wonders of the deep beneath, they recognized a God ; but that 
God was the Theos or Deus — the Disposer of the Universe, 
rather than its Creator. They could imagine a great Architect 
whose skill had fashioned the whole, but their unassisted reason 
could not rise to the contemplation of a Power to create the 
material, out of which all things were made. They held the 
matter, therefore, to be uncreated — eternal like God himself; it 
being the passive, and he the active principle or plastic power 
that moulded all things. 

There were other ancient philosophers who sought to account 
for the visible world, without the intervention of a first cause. 



b MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 

at all, — whose doctrines of fortuitous atoms were like the mad 
theories of the philosophic Lucifers of modern times, who assail 
the throne of the Creator and God of the Universe. These 
modern skeptics tell us that, at first, minute particles, agglome- 
rated in the water, and pervaded by caloric and electricity, were 
expanded and formed cavities and produced irritation that be- 
came a vital excitement. This vital excitement they say, being 
sustained by nutriment acquired by absorption, caused wants 
aud desires in these lower organizations, the impulse of which 
developed membranes, fibres, canals with their fluids and bones, 
successively ; till with the development, progress and perfection 
of organs, a molecule ascended by gradation through the vege- 
table and animal kingdoms, till it became a man. 'Tis in 
accordance with this theory, Lord Monboddo tells us, in his 
philosophy, that Man, who is but little lower than the Angels, 
and was made in the image of God, is a mere gradation of the 
animal, a higher species of ape, not long since found in Nicobar, 
that in their transition, have cast their tails. 

A few questions serve to show the fallacy of a fortuitous 
creation. How could inferior animals, destitute of the senses of 
taste, hearing or sight, conceive of such things, to desire them, 
when we, with our fine senses perfect, are unable to imagine a 
sixth ? But again : who was it that gave law and motion, and 
these appetencies to matter, by which they propose to account 
for the creation of all things ? — or farther still ; who formed the 
matter of which they were made ? The answer is obvious. It 
remained for Revelation, then, to disclose him who, alone self- 
existent from everlasting to everlasting, by the word of Omnipo- 
tent, from nothing spoke into existence the Matter out of which 
he formed the Heavens and the Earth, with the innumerable 
denizens that people their domains. 

The Bible therefore, though at times accommodated in its 
diction to the prejudices of men, is the foundation of all true 
philosophy ; the first Chapter of Genesis gives the only origin 
of the universe ; and provides Faith with a telescope which, 
above the things of Earth — beyond suns and systems — discloses 
the dread Being of Beings, who sits upon the throne of 
Eternity — at once the Creator, Disposer and Controller of mat- 
ter, INSTINCT and mind. 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 

Many wise and good men, however agreeing in relation to 
the facts recorded in the Genesis of Moses, differ in interpretation 
of time — some supposing the creation of the Earth long anterior 
to that of man, and the term days an indefinite period — while 
others consider the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth — 
with their inhabitants, as effected in six regular days. It may 
therefore be merely observed, that in the history of the Creation 
of things, as recorded in Genesis, we perceive a regular gradation 
upwards from inanimate matter to man, all of which is exem- 
plified in their organization — first the Earth — then grasses — then 
herbs — then trees — the moving things of the waters — the fishes 
— the reptiles, birds, beasts — and, lastly, man the terrestrial 
Lord of Creation. Whether these creations preceded each other 
by intervals of ages, and were, each in its turn, made the bksis 
of what succeeded, or were separated and distinguished merely 
by ordinary days, one thing is certain — that each several creation 
is higher than the one anterior to it. And however with Geolo- 
gists we might be disposed to admit their views of^an earlier 
Creation of the Earth (although the phenomena on which they 
found this theory may be otherwise satisfactorily accounted for) 
it would seem to deprive the system of Creation of much of its 
harmony ; and to circumscribe, at once, the power and the glory 
of God, were we to suppose the after formations of the difierent 
tribes of vegetables and animals, occurred severally at intervals 
of ages. 

Under the name of matter is comprised whatever occupies 
space, and is cognizable to the senses. It is consequently the 
substratum of all bodies having extension. The elements of 
matter, out of which all things are formed, are about fifty in 
number. Matter is either inorganic or organic. Inorganic 
matter is an accumulation of particles of the same, or a combina- 
tion of those of different elements — without definite form, and 
without life and motion ; — in a word a collection of homoge- 
neous parts, each of which has the properties of the whole. 
Thus a drop of water is as perfect as a hogshead of the same 
fluid ; and a particle of iron has all the characteristics of the bar 
fifom which it is filed — a striking difference to what occurs in 
organic life where a portion of a vegetable, as the root or the 
trunk ', or a part of an animal as the head or the body, cannot 



8 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 

be regarded as a perfect entity, but as parts of a general whole. 
It is evident therefore that our globe with the rocks, stones, 
metals, earths and fluids it contains, comes under the name of 
inorganic matter ; — yet has this glory that it not only affords a 
theatre for the display of organic life above it, but furnishes the 
material out of which the organisms are formed ; for vegetables 
and animals arc all formed from some of the simple elements to 
which we have referred. 

I have said that inorganic matter is without definite size and 
form, and without life and motion — yet we see an approach to 
the former in the crystalUzation of metals and of the gems that 
Nature has hoarded in her secret mines ; and analogues of the 
latter, when in passing from unstratified to stratified rocks, we 
meet with the appearance of veins. Aristotle and others were 
disposed to regard the ultimate particles of matter as animated 
points or monads — (a theory which some philosophers are at 
present reviving); and in accordance with these views, con- 
sidered the earth a vast moving, breathing animal or rather 
aggregation of animals. However averse to endowing our boun- 
tiful mother with the actual attributes of life, we may readily 
admit the analogies of it, in her structure and her fiinctions. 
Thus the rocks of the earth may be considered as her bones, the 
ground as her flesh ; and the waters as her blood. The enor- 
mous chains of granite that extend through her whole length , 
may be regarded as the vertebral column or back-bone ; and the 
smaller mountains as limbs. The Ocean is her mighty heart. 
Its pulsation is felt in the ebb and flow, that are its systole and 
diastole — and sends abroad the blood-like fluid, which is con- 
veyed back to it again, by the vein-like rivers. The internal 
cavity within, where heat renders every thing fluid, may be 
regarded as the stomach. It has pores for absorption and respi- 
ration ; and its fiery breathings may be seen from the nostrils of 
volcanoes, which serve also for emunctories. And though desti- 
tute of a head proper, like a Polypus or Tunicary, yet Symmes' 
hole, when discovered, will be a huge mouth fitted for absorption, 
like the mouth of a Rotatory. As all animals have their para- 
sitic vermin, we may conclude the analogy by considering men 
and animals as the parasites of the Earth. 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. \3 

Thus, in tracing matter through its gradations, it will be found 
that each lower kingdom is not only intended for the support of 
that which succeeds it, but presents as it were the shadows of 
its advancing forms and functions. Inorganic matter, therefore, 
which is at the foot of the scale, is the support of the vegetable 
kingdom, for no animal substance unless decomposed and re- 
duced to its original elements, can form a part of the nutriment 
of a plant — vegetables are intended for the sustenance of grami- 
nivorous animals — these again for the carnivorous, and all are 
for the use of Man who is the acknowledged Lord of the whole. 
And the structures and attributes of these several kingdoms, 
follow each other with a wonderful regularity — each filling up 
as it were the perfect picture, of which the preceding kingdom 
presented a faint outline. 

Organic matter is a term applied to bodies of heterogeneous 
elements, and heterogeneous parts which, though separate and 
distinct, have a mutual relation and dependence. These bodies 
have determinate size and shape ; and the parts or organs, have 
within themselves certain motions or functions which, taken 
together, are denominated life. The lowest division of Organ- 
isms is VEGETABLES. Not intended for self-enjoyment, they are 
without sensibility ; and, consequently, have not occasion for 
powers of locomotion, to avoid pain or seek pleasure. Designed 
merely to sustain animals, and to delight the eye and serve the 
purposes of man, such organs only were necessary to them as 
were calculated to nourish the individual, and to continue the 
species — accordingly we find in their economy, provision made 
for nutrition and reproduction only. In these, however, ap- 
proaches are made to the animal kingdom, as will be seen here- 
after. 

In comparing the most beautiful gem from the mineral king- 
dom with the delicate tintings of the corolla, or even with the 
leaf, of a vegetable, the superior rank of the latter, in the system 
of nature, will be evident. How interesting then to trace the 
different vegetables, from the short-lived flowret to the olive of 
centuries, and from the simple shrub to the giant Banyan, 
beneath whose boughs nations have worshipped ; while, as the 
day-god departed the fire-flies lit the dim aisles with their tapers, 
and the Campanillero or convent-bell-bird, with his solemn toll, 
announced the hour of vespers ; but we hasten on to higher 
2 



10 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 

organizations. Vegetables, having occasion, like animals, for 
something to stand upon, have analogues of feet, in their roots ; 
but as they have no occasion for locomotion, these roots are 
firmly implanted in the soil. The trunk and the branches, 
being similar to the body and limbs of animals, find their sup- 
port in the hard, woody fibres which supply the place of bones. 
The branches are sometimes possessed of claspers that serve as 
hands. A regular circulation of sap is carried on, similar to that 
of the blood in animals, — by means of vessels which convey it 
fi-om, and to the root, like arteries and veins. This sap is carried 
to the leaves which aerate it like lungs, and then distribute it 
for the sustenance of the plant. Vegetables have neither mouth 
nor stomach, — but nourishment is taken up by the roots, and 
being assimilated, after the manner of food in the animal stomach, 
passes through glands which secrete the juices required for the 
economy of the vegetable. They have also tracheae or air ves- 
sels, absorb air and moisture, and throw off unnecessary and 
hurtful particles, by excretion. Nor is this the only resem- 
blance—the pith of the trunk is like the marrow of the bones, 
and the rind of trees, with its layers, corresponds in character, to 
the epidermis, rete mucosum and corion of the animal skin ; 
while the prickles and the down upon it, further correspond to 
the provision made against external violence and elemental in- 
clemency, in the spines and hair of animals. 

The arrangement of the woody fibres in vegetables, is diverse 
also, like that of the bones in the next kingdom — thus the solid 
portions of the elder, are external, like the shell of a Molluscan, 
while those of other trees, are like the internal frame-work of the 
Vertebratas. Some vegetables like the lower orders of animals, 
are without limbs — others are without leaves. It will be recol- 
lected that leaves serve the purpose of lungs ; and when there 
are no leaves for respiration, as in the case of mushrooms, we 
find gills which perform that office — just as in fishes, which are 
destitute of lungs, we find gills to supply the deficiency. So 
far regards nutrition — the well-being of the individual. — For 
continuing the species, nature has provided sexual organs of re- 
production — both male and female, corresponding to the econo- 
my of the animal world ; and what is more wonderful still, in the 
lower orders of vegetables, the sexes are often united in one in- 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS, 11 

dividual which is consequently endowed with suigenerant pow- 
ers : — in a higher grade, though they are bisexual, there is a ne- 
cessity of union between the hermaphrodite flowers ; while in 
the perfect vegetables, the sexes are distinct in separate indi- 
viduals. In all these phenomena of reproduction they agree 
with the ascending orders of animals. We have seen that vege- 
tables are without sensation and voluntary motion ; yet in the 
highest organizations, there is something analogous to sensation 
and reflection, which indicates an approach to animals. The 
Bengal Hedysarum is ever moveable, the Heliotrope follows 
the sun — Tulips fold their leaves and the Tamarind closes 
upon its fruit, at sunset — the Lotos sinks into the water ; and 
the Scotch Sycamore shuts up its leaves, before a storm — the 
Nepenthes distillatoria of Japan, extends its pitcher during 
a rain, and, when it is full shuts down the lid — the animal flow- 
er of St. Lucia, an aquatic somewhat resembling our marigold, 
sinks down into the water, when the hand is presented to it ;' 
and the Sensitive plant shinks back and shrivels up, when it is 
touched : — there is another peculiarity in this plant, it has regu- 
lar joints that play like those of the Articulates or Vertebrates. 
The leaves of the Dionsea seem as if formed to catch food : 
whenever an insect settles on it, the parts are irritated, and the 
lobes close upon it, and crush it to pieces. In some plants also, 
there is something like sleep. When the sun has gone doAvn, 
and darkness has overspread the earth, their limbs are relaxed, 
the bright eyes of the daughters of the fields, are closed, and 
their queenly heads, bowed in weariness, are rocked to sleep by 
the gentle breeze, while some that have shunned the light (as 
the Nyctanthus) come forth like melancholy wanderers beneath 
the moon, to look upon the stars, and pour the soul of sorrow 
upon the dewy air. All these phenomena however are but 
analogies of animal sensation and may be explained on the 
principles of light, electricity and chemical attraction. 

Rising above mere vegetable life, we come to a higher division 
of organic matter, animal existence. The preservation of the 
individual and the species being an object here, as in the vege- 
table kingdom, animals in common with vegetables are provided 
with organs for nutrition and reproduction. However, as the 
food of plants is inorganic matter ; and the food of animals or- 



12 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

ganic, consisting either of vegetable or animal organisms, it is 
necessary that the nutritive apparatus of the latter, should be of 
a higher order — which is accordingly found to be the case. In 
the growth of animals, there is this farther difference — the num- 
ber and the position of the limbs, are determinate ; while those 
of vegetables are not. The order of the nutritive and reproduc- 
tive organs is also reversed — thus the head and mouth of the 
perfect animal, are superior; and the reproductive organs infe- 
rior — while the root or mouth of the plant by which it is nour- 
ished is in the earth, and the flower by which it continues its 
species, is at the top. This position of the head, in the animal, 
at once proclaims a design superior to mere vegetative existence — 
to wit, sensation, which has its seat in the brain. The principal 
object in the creation of animals was enjoyment. Hence they 
are not only fitted for nutrition and reproduction, but are en- 
dowed with sensation, with which, in the benevolent economy 
of the Deity, are connected perception, and powers of volition 
and motion : for the sensation of pleasure or pain, must necessa- 
rily affect the will to seek the one and avoid the other, by means 
of motion. The construction then of the members of this de- 
partment of organic life, is not only well adapted nutrition 
and reproduction, but to sensation, perception, volition and mo- 
tion, all rising both in kind and degree, with a beautiful grada- 
tion through the ranks of animal existence, in a manner suited 
to the character and condition of each order. This will be ap- 
parent as Ave proceed to lift link by link of the great chain of 
being. 

Of the class of zoophytes, which claim, at once, connection 
with two worlds — the Vegetable and the Animal, — first are the 
Porifera or Sponges — those animal mosses that encrust the ocean 
rocks, or depend, in living stalactites, from the arched grottoes 
of the far-down sea. These are like vegetables outwardly ; but 
contain within a soft flesh mixed with fibres. The numerous 
pores of the sponge, like capillary tubes, take up, for the susten- 
tation of the animal, the water with the small particles which it 
contains ; and this is expelled again through larger passages by 
a contractility within. Its motions, it will be seen, depend to a 
considerable extent on the element in which it lives ; and in 
mechanical contrivance, are but little above those of dead matter. 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 13 

It has no power of locomotion but is permanently fixed at its 
base like a plant. 

Next in order to the Porifera are the Polypi — those living 
flowers that expand their bright petals amid the parterres of the 
sea. Like a bud at first, they attach themselves permanently to 
a rock, rear a trunk and send forth branches, which produce 
beautiful flowers somewhat like the china-aster. The centre of 
the flower's disk, is an orifice, which is the mouth of the animal ; 
and the long petals that surround it, are tentacula which serve 
to seize any thing and bring it to the mouth. By the play of 
these tentacles in the water, eddies are formed, which (without 
design on the part of the animal) draw minute particles for its 
sustenance. In this arrangement for food, in which for the first 
time we are presented with something analogous to hands, it is 
plain that the Polypi, in contrivance and muscular power, occu- 
py a higher state of organization than the Sponges. Still they 
have many characteristics of vegetables. Like them, they are 
permanently fixed, like them they turn towards the light; and, 
like them, are indeterminate in the form and number of their 
limbs ; and replace them again when lost. But especially in 
their reproduction are they like vegetables. They may be pro- 
pagated, either by buds, or by cuttings from the living branch, 
whether these cuttings be made transverse, longitudinal or other- 
wise — having we suppose animated molecules that, like the 
eyes of the Potatoe, insure reproduction. 

An interesting order of the Polypi is Corallines, those animal 
architects that lay their foundations in the bottom of the ocean, 
and rear their ruby structures curious as the Labyrinth and 
higher than Babel of old, till they form the crust of islands and 
continents in the sea. They are shown to be a higher order of 
existence, by having, in their structure, something analogous to 
the Molluscans ; and even of the Vertebrated animals, when the 
polypary is jointed and enveloped by the polype. 

In the last and highest order of the Polypi, for the first time, 
we meet with the power of locomotion. A beautiful species is 
a phosphoric animal, called the Pennatula, — Hhe only literary 
Editor" of the deep, the motion of whose pen like that of the 
true literateur, flashes radiance as it moves. The Sea-pen 
consists of a long calcareous tube, like the cylinder of a quill. 



14 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND! 

surmounted by a plume. , The fibres of the plume on either side, 
are composed of polypi and the minute filaments of the fibres, 
are their tentacula or arms, by the simultaneous stroke of which, 
this singular community is rowed through the water. The 
power of moving from place to place, is not the only distinguish- 
ing trait of the Sea-pen. Its manner of reproduction is wonder- 
fiil — being by means of oviform germs sent forth from the mouth. 

Next in order we come to a class of animals called Infusories 
— animalcules sometimes not more than the 20,000th, part of an 
inch in length — that inhabit fluids in general, and almost all 
animal and vegetable substances. Infusories are commonly 
placed at the bottom of the list of animals, which is inconsistent 
with their vitality and muscular power. These animals differ 
fi-om the Polypi, in being separate, and in having the power of 
locomotion. They are sometimes called amorphous because 
their form is indeterminate or changeful, and their structure 
various ; but all have the power of active locomotion, which 
shows the prevalence of muscle. A higher grade of the Infuso- 
ries is called Rotatories, because they have circular discs sur- 
rounded by cilia, (certain appendages like eyelashes,) that 
appear to be forever revolving. The cilia serve the purpose 
both of arms and feet — at once propelling the animal by their 
rotation, and forming eddies which cause food to flow into the 
mouth. They show a much higher organization than Polypi — 
for while most of the Polypi have a mere orifice for a mouth, 
and have so little the mechanism of a stomach, that they can be 
turned inside out and yet digest as before — the Rotatory Infu- 
sories have mandibles, sometimes armed with teeth, several 
stomachs, and even rudiments of a nervous system. Yet they 
retain so far the character of vegetables as like them to be pro- 
duced by cuttings. 

The next class of Animals is Radiaries, which, unlike the 
Infusories, are limited in growth and shape to a certain standard. 
They are called Radiaries because they diverge like rays fiom a 
centre. We saw a tendency to this in the preceding classes, 
but here we find perfect radiation in form. There is also an 
approach to the formation of nervous centres — and consequently 
as a class they cannot be produced from cuttings or oflsetts, like 
Polypi and the higher Infusories which have nervous molecules 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 15 

diffused generally over their bodies. The different orders of 
Radiaries, are Gelatines, of a soft mass like jelly — ^Asterias those 
living stars that spangle the ocean firmamentj and Echinoderms 
with spines like the hedgehog. The Gelatines in shape re- 
semble an umbrella, or if we look for an analogue in the vege- 
table world, the mushroom, and are carried, by the wind and 
their own movements, over the water. The Star-fish send forth 
rays from which tubular tentacula issue that have a three-fold 
use ; and serve at once, as feet for locomotion, as hands for 
seizure, and as lungs for respiration. They have an arrange- 
ment which answers the purpose of teeth. The Star-fish may 
be propagated by cutting off a portion of any of the rays, which 
shows their vegetable connection. The Echinoderms have 
projecting spines, that serve both for motion and defence. 
These shafts are of a violet colour, and fluted like a Corinthian 
pillar, with regular pedestal and capital. The mouth of these 
animals is better formed than any of the preceding ; and has 
well-defined teeth'. Their internal organization is also more 
perfect — the alimentary arrangement is much better — nervous 
nodules are found and ovaries. Occupying, at the same time, 
ocean and the air, a higher organization becomes necessary ; 
and accordingly we find a development of organs, to serve the 
purpose of respiration of the air. 

The next class of Animals is Tunicaries, so called because 
they are enveloped in a double tunic or mantle — the exterior 
one hard and having oval and excretory apertures — the interior 
soft with apertures accommodated to those of the exterior ones. 
They have gills for breathing, traces of a heart in an apparatus 
somewhat like a pump — an alimentary canal — and although 
headless they have a ganglion or nervous agglomeration, that 
sends nerves to the mouth and posterior extremity. Some are 
simple, others are aggregate — fixed or floating — pointing back 
in these respects to the Polypi whose type of sociality and per- 
manent location, is found in the vegetable kingdom. The 
Salpes and Pyro somes are remarkable orders of the aggregate 
Tunicaries. The former as they are carried over the water roll 
and unroll themselves like ribands of fire ; and the latter, light- 
ing up the ocean as they sweep along, exhibit in their changing 
colors all the iridescence of the rainbow. Of the simple fixed 



16 MATTER, INSTINCT, M I N D : 

Tunicaries, the Cynthia Momus is the most remarkable ; of the 
floating, the Velella and the Physaha or Portuguese man-of-war. 
They have thin membranes which they can elevate. These 
serve as sails ; and nothing can be more beautiful than a fleet of 
these mimic line-of-battle-ships skimming the deep, with their 
purple canvas spread to the wind. 

The MoLLuscANs are the next class, and are evidently higher 
from the fact that their organization is more perfect, and from 
the circumstance that some orders of them are found on land as 
the snail and the slug. The body of the Molluscans is soft — 
enveloped in a bilobed mantle somewhat like the Tunicaries ; 
and the whole surrounded by a calcareous shell whence the name 
Mollusca. In their formation they appear to forecast the class 
of Insects for the valves of the shell correspond to the elytra 
or exterior wings of the insect, while the mantle within, answers 
in a measure to the soft interior wings. They have gills for 
respiration — a heart with its functions — and although no medul- 
lary chord for nerves — ^yet ganglions that send them to different 
parts of the body. The bivalve Molluscans, or those which 
have two shells, are headless. Some of them, however, have a 
foot better developed than any we have hitherto seen of extraor- 
dinary power ; and eye-like organs or tentacula, that supply in 
some measure the want of vision. 

The bivalve Moluscans form two divisions, the first compris- 
ing those that live in the mud, or burrow and form cells, and 
the second embracing those that fix themselves to stones or other 
substances, by a tendinous ligament thrust through the shell 
or by a byssus which is spun by the foot. Of the first division 
of Bivalves the common Oyster is most generally known ; the 
peculiarities and excellence of which require no description 
in Baltimore. The Pearl oyster is the most precious, forming 
by means of a lapidifying fluid an animal gem that rivals the 
most beautiful crystallizations of the mineral world. Of all 
these shells the Pecten or Comb-shell is the most beautifiil in 
sculpture and in coloring, but perhaps the most remarkable of 
the Bivalves are the Stone and Ship borers, which planting them- 
selves firmly on a muscular foot revolve, and like an auger bore 
through the bottom of ships, and into the most solid stones. 
The Pholads or Raspers are scarcely less worthy of note and 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 17 

have shells like a file, which moved backwards and forwards 
by means of the muscular foot, abrade away the hardest rocks. 
Of the second division of Bivalves the Clampshell is the most 
distinguished. It is a giant shell weighing sometimes five hun- 
dred pounds, and is often suspended from rocks by means of 
tendinous fibres put forth through a large orifice situated not 
far from the hinge of the shell. The Pinna or wing-shell, so 
called from its resemblance to a plume, belongs also to the 
second division and is distinguished for the production of a bys- 
sus spun by its foot, which was anciently manufactured into 
gloves and stockings. As this byssus terminates in a sucker, 
the animal often uses it as an anchor and cable to stay itself 
amid the violence of a storm. The bivalve Molluscans are all 
hermaphrodites — that is each has both sexes and produces of 
itself — the common oyster is so prolific as to be said capable of 
producing ten thousand barrels. 

Univalve or one-shelled Molluscans, fi:om the position of the 
foot, are called Pteropods, Gastropods, Trachelipods, Heteropods 
and Cephalopods — that is wing-footed, belly-footed, neck-footed, 
diverse-footed and head-footed. In Univalves, for the first time, 
we meet with a regular head, and this in the first order is im- 
perfectly developed. The Hyalea with a beautiful transparent 
shell, belongs to the Pteropods. Through apertures in its shell, 
it puts forth two large, yellow and violet wings ; and sails over 
the water — the butterfly of the ocean. The Chiton or Coat-of- 
mail shell is the most remarkable of the Gastropods ; often fixing 
itself to rocks or the keels of ships, and by means of a vacuum 
which it creates, rendering it impossible to rend it away without 
breaking the shell. 

Of the Trachelipods the Snail is the most remarkable. It 
has an appearance of eyes — indicating the development of those 
organs in more perfect Univalves. Snails are herbiferous. 
Their courtship is very classical — they are said to throw winged 
Cupid's darts at each other, as a sign of a mutual flame. The 
young are produced from eggs, and the infant animal feeds upon 
the skin of the egg fi:om which it was produced — just as birds 
live on the yolk or frogs on the white. Carbonate of lime is a 
chief ingredient of this skin ; and it is necessary for the young 
animal to feed upon it that it may have material for the forma- 
tion of its shell : just as gravel and dust are necessary to fowls 
3 



18 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

for the same purpose. The Snail is a hybernating animal. 
When winter comes it forms a kind of mortar by mixing earth 
with a mucus which it secretes, and, using its foot as a trowel, 
builds a structure round its shell, in which it passes the winter. 
Snails are hermaphrodites — but as there are male and female 
hermaphrodites among them, they are produced by a union of 
these. Some of the Trachelipods are carnivorous which may 
account for their having eyes and ears, as these are necessary to 
enable them to see and hear their prey. We find these deve- 
lopments of eyes and ears in the Stromb, the Murex or purple 
dyefish, and the Cowries, a very beautiful species of which 
forms the specie circulation of some countries into which shin- 
plasters have not yet found their way. The carnivorous Tra- 
chelipods have two distinct sexes, and male and female shells, 
in wliich also they are followed by the Heteropods. 

The Heteropods have a proboscis, two tentacula and four 
swimming apparatus. The Carinaria vitrea, having a shell of 
great transparency and extreme brittleness is a good representa- 
tive of this order. 

The Cephalopods or head-footed Molluscans are the highest 
order, and seem to occupy a middle ground between the Polypi 
and the Vertebrates having the tentacular of the former, the 
visual and auditory organs peculiar to the Molluscans and the 
beak, tongue, and something like the osseous column, of the 
Vertebrates. The Cuttlefish, that like a hyena prowls at night 
through the waters, and terrifies the fish with its great flaming 
eyes, is the most predaceous of the Cephalopods ; as the Nau- 
tilus is the most beautifiil, who in his pearly bark, with his 
canvas spread to the wind and his tentacula for oars, sweeps 
over the sea, like a Tyrian galley with its broidered sail. 

We begin now to emerge from the ocean. Occupying a place 
between the Mollusca and Vertebrata, is a class of animals called 
Articulata ; because they are distinguished by having regular 
joints. The first order is that of Vermes or worms, called an- 
nulose animals, because they consist of a frame-work like rings, 
connected together by bands of muscular fibres, the contraction 
and expansion of which, give motion to the animal. This order 
is subdivided into five genera distinguished as follows — those 
that have no bristles or cavities of prehension, as the Earth- 
worm — those that have a cavity at each end for prehension as 
the Leech — those with bristles to assist locomotion but without 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 19 

legs — those with legs, and bristles armed with a claw — ^but 
without heads — and lastly those with head, eyes, and proboscis 
armed with maxilla or jaw-bone. 

The next order of Articulata is Crustaceans — or Shell fish — a 
race of animals whose limbs are articulated with great skill and 
adaptation of parts — the whole of which are enclosed in a shell 
of carbonate of lime. To the most superficial observer it is 
evident that the organization is more perfect than any we have 
yet noticed ; and that, in the character and arrangement of the 
difierent parts of the shell, there is an approximation to the bony 
articulation of the vertebrate animals. We need not particularly 
describe the order as all are well acquainted with the Crab and 
Lobster which are members of it. We have hitherto found 
something to serve the purpose of hands ; but in the pincers of 
the crab, we have, for the first time, an initiatory development 
of the hand proper, in something analogous to a thumb and 
finger. 

The Crustaceans are comprised under the name of Melacos- 
tracans or soft-shell — divided again into tribes, from the number 
and position of the feet, called Decapods, Stomapods, Lagmipods, 
Amphipods and Isopods ; and Entomostracans or those which 
have the shell scored, — somewhat after the manner of Insects, 
with which they are the connecting link. The most remark- 
able of the Crustaceans are the Hermit-crabs — the Soldier-crabs 
and the Horsemen ; their history is full of interest 

Under the name of Insects' we may include Arachnidse or 
Spiders, though most persons make a separate class of them. 
Insects are a high development in the animal creation ; and as 
active motion constitutes their chief enjoyment, we find their 
structure well adapted to rapidity of movement. It will be found 
that many winged insects have a more rapid motion than any 
other order of animals, their size considered ; and it is perhaps 
owing to the danger to which this rapidity exposes them, that they 
have been protected by the hard integument which covers them. 
This hard covering is called entomoline ; and the rich lustre of 
it is owing to the presence of metallic substances heightened 
by the reflection of the light. Though Insects have no spinal 
column with marrow, there is a spinal chord which runs along 
the back interiorly and terminates in a bilobed agglomeration 
somewhat like a brain. There is a heart and circulation with 



20 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

a white fluid for blood — respiration by means of tracheae — eyes 
varying from eight to two — ears in the more perfect insects at 
the bottom of the antennas ; and in the development of the head 
and the feet a nearer approach to the vertebrate animals than 
we have yet seen — as might be shown by particular specifica- 
tions. All however exhibit remarkable design ; and whether 
with tiny feet they walk the earth — with oar-like paddles skim 
the deep or spread their winged canvas before the breeze of the 
upper element, they excite our wonder and admiration. The 
metamorphoses peculiar to the insect tribe, and the arrangements 
made for their several states — would of themselves furnish a 
topic of most pleasing illustration. 

These states are designated by the following names, the 
ovum, the larva, the chrysalis or pupa, and the imago or perfect 
insect; and are best represented in the Lepidopterous tribe or 
Butterfly. The egg which the butterfly deposites, soon becomes 
a Caterpillar — an unsightly worm covered with hairs and bristles, 
yet having within its outer covering the organs of its future 
development. After a time the caterpillar invests itself in a 
shroud and in the pupa state awaits a higher destiny. Burst- 
ing at length the silken investiture it sails through the air, a 
butterfly ; and spreads those gorgeous draperies beside whose 
ground the richest cardinals seem dull, and before whose spangles 
the diamonds of the Esterhazy mantle, grow dim. 

Insects are named mostly according to the number and posi- 
tion of the wings ; thus Aptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Lepi- 
doptera, &c. In the lower insects the wings and feet are 
multitudinous, and are replaced when broken ofl" — characteristics 
referring back to the Polypi. The more perfect insects however 
have not more than six legs and four wings. Insects are pro- 
duced from eggs. 

We have now arrived at the last Division of Animals the 
Vertebrata. These are the animals unquestionably which 
are said to have been produced by the Earth, in the first chapter 
of Genesis. In Vertebrates for the first time we meet with bone. 
The shells of the Crustaceans and Molluscans are formed of 
carbonate of lime ; but the bones of animals, which are much 
harder, of the phosphate of lime, albumen and gelatine. How- 
ever diverse the orders of this class of animals may be, they all 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 21 

agree in this respect — the body is formed upon and around a 
jointed column within, called the vertebra or backbone, which 
is at once the support of the whole frame and the general axis of 
motion — furnishing attachment for the principal muscles which 
move the body. The spinal marrow which extends through 
this column ; and which terminates in the cranium or skull, in 
a mass of nervous substance, is also the centre of sensation, by 
means of the nerves issuing from it. Hence the sensibility of 
this class of animals is much greater than of any inferior ones ; 
for the nervous substance is not only more abundant ; but accu- 
mulated in greater masses in the head. 

As the lowest organization of animals is found in the water, 
so the lowest orders of the upper class are also found there. 
Fishes therefore are at the bottom of the scale of Vertebrata. 
They have gills for respiration, like some of the lower animals 
which we have noticed, but their construction is in some respects 
superior, the circulation of the blood is simple and the blood is 
red, but cold. Fishes are produced from eggs, impregnated by 
the male after deposition. The teeth of fish are harder and bet- 
ter formed than those of the lower orders. In the scales of 
fishes, in the pectoral fins and in the tail, which acts as a rudder, 
we find something analogous to the feathers, wings and tails of 
birds, with which order they are more immediately connected 
by the flying fish prospectively — just as they are connected, 
retrospectively, with the annalose animals, by the Lampreys. 

The ear of fishes is dull, but the sense of smell is exceedingly 
acute — the most so of all their senses. The eye of fish re- 
sembles that of the higher animals, but its outer coat is harder ; 
so that it has no occasion for the protection of the eyelid. A 
species of Boudians has a membranous valve, analogous to the 
eyelid ; and the Periopthalmoi have a regular nictitant mem- 
brane, like birds. Fish in general are protected by scales which 
encase them like the plate mail of warrior knights ; but some 
have particular means of offensive and defensive war. Thus 
the Saw-fish rips those that come near him, with his jagged saw 
— the Sword-fish drives home his trenchant blade to the vitals 
of some powerfiil enemy — the Gymnotus electricus mimics the 
lightning of heaven ; and the Torpedo fires his submarine 
artillery ; while the Flyshooter, like a backwoodsman with his 



55» MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

rifle, by projecting a drop of water from a long tube, brings down 
flies and insects. In the water there are some rare analogues of 
the world of man. Thus in the far-down sea, the Lyre-fish 
sports through the musical waters — the Tobaccopipe-fish reclines 
in a shady nook, with a pipe in his teeth, hke an honest Dutch- 
man taking his comfort, while the Razor-fish plies his trade ; 
and with keen instrument shaves his customers where the 
Fancoral or the Dulse hangs out the barber's pole. 

Reptiles constitute the next class of the vertebrates, and as 
they are amphibious, they are the connecting link between the 
fishes which inhabit the water, and animals that live on land. 
Although conformed to the higher animals in the texture of the 
flesh, and in the development of limbs ; yet, in some respects, 
they might be regarded as below the fishes — for the brain is so 
exceedingly small, that the life, instead of centering there, 
appears diffused over the whole s^^stem — so that the removal of 
the head or even the heart, will not destroy life, for hours after. 
Their power of vitality is farther shown in their passing months 
in a torpid state, in winter — and even years without air or food; 
when, enclosed as we find frogs sometimes in trees, and even in 
rocks. Reptiles are produced from eggs without incubation. 
The heart has two auricles. The blood is red but cold ; and 
the covering is various — sometimes soft — again hard and de- 
fended by scales. 

Batrachia or frogs may be regarded as the first order of the 
Reptiles, because in their early developments, they have more 
the appearance of fishes — breathing the air by means of gills 
like them — and like them propelling themselves through the 
water. Frogs are unsightly in their appearance; but have 
certain peculiarities in common with Insects, a class distin- 
guished for their beauty. The transformations of the former 
correspond to the metamorphoses of the latter. First is the egg, 
a gelatinous mass with a black globule in the centre — then a 
regular development of head, body and tail, like a fish — presently 
long tufts grow out from the neck which serve temporarily as 
gills, and, at the same time, to some extent for locomotion — after 
a time, arms and legs are put forth, the caudal extremity is cast; 
and Don John, in virtue of his new character, leaps upon the 
land. The toes of the frog correspond in number and appear- 
ance to those of man ; but the hand has only four fingers. 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 23 

Ophidians or Serpents are regarded as the second order of 
Reptiles ; though the simplicity of their construction might 
seem to indicate a lower position. The only bones of serpents 
besides those of the vertebral column, are the bones of the head 
and ribs. In general, they have no feet, but move along by 
means of the action of the ribs and the scales. Some, forecast- 
ing a higher grade of animals, have rudiments of feet, concealed 
in their interior structure ; while others, as the Boa and Python, 
have external projections armed with a claw. 

Saurians are the next order and comprise the different kinds 
of lizard-like animals — up to the Crocodile. Rudiments of a 
sternum or breastbone, and of the extremities appear in the 
lowest genera ; and the feet become well-defined — some having 
two and the more advanced animals four feet. The Crocodile 
exhibits for the first time a distinct neck ; and has the thorax 
and the abdomen better distinguished than they have hitherto 
appeared. The bones of the neck are the same in number as 
those of the mammalia which are always seven ; and the bones 
of the hind legs are much like the same bones in quadrupeds. 
A species of the Saurians, the Draco Volans or Flying Serpent 
seems connected with the birds. Its ribs are spread out and 
covered with a membrane to which flappers are attached. These 
when expanded look like wings, and propel the animal through 
the air. 

The Chelonians or Turtles comprise an order somewhat 
anomalous ; for the whole body is encased in a solid osseous 
structure — so that they seem to occupy the same place among 
Yertebrates which the Crustaceans hold among the Articulata. 
The ribs and the vertebrae of the Chelonians are imbedded in 
the solid osseous fabric of the Carapace or upper shell. This 
disposition of the ribs, and the shape and general character of 
the head and jaw appears to forecast the birds ; which pecu- 
liarities, together with the appearance of the feet, that flattened 
in shape, evince some approaches to the human hand, we may 
regard as evidences of a higher organization. 

The next class of vertebrate animals is Birds, those beautiful 
creatures that, like animated ships, sport upon our waters, skim 
the air above us, and enliven our forests and fields, by the rich- 
ness of their plumage and the sweetness of their song. They 



24 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND! 

are distinguished froiii all lower animals by having wwcm blood, 
a more perfect circulation and respiration, and a more capacious 
brain. In their voice also they approach much nearer to man. 
Like him they have two legs; and as these are to serve the 
purpose of hands, they have several divisions varying from three 
to five, one of which however is assimilated in its construction 
to the human thumb. 

We have likened birds to ships. The analogy is strong ; for 
whether they move through the water or the air, it is by the 
resistance which those elements make to the stroke of their 
webbed feet or their wings, similar to what is made to the 
stroke of an oar. We find the body of a bird the analogue of 
the hull of a ship. The sternum is broad and rounded like the 
sides of a ship, and it has a long straight bone depending from 
it which is exceedingly like a keel. Birds intended to fly in 
the air, require a construction that shall combine lightness 
with great muscular power. Accordingly we find their bones 
all of the hardest material (phosphate of lime) cylindrical and 
filled with air instead of marrow. The feathers with which 
they are covered, are light and their horny tubes filled with air ; 
and the muscles moving their limbs, are of extraordinary power. 
Different ornithologists divide Birds differently. Some have 
only three divisions, others no less than thirty-eight. The 
elemental division is the simplest, — aquatic — terrestrial — aerial. 
They are more commonly divided as follows, Waders, Swim- 
mers, Coursers, Scratchers, Climbers, Perchers and Raveners, 
the peculiarities of which may be inferred from the names. 
The Ostrich, may be regarded as the connection between Birds 
and the Mammalia. The position of the eyes, so that each can 
see the same object — the motion of the eyelid — together with 
its being furnished with eyelashes — its resemblance to a camel 
in appearance and peculiarities ; and its associations with beasts, 
as the zebra, and quagga — all entitle it to this distinction. 

We have now arrived at the highest class of animals, the mam- 
malia — so called from nutritive organs denominated mammae, 
which secrete milk for the sustentation of the young. The 
muscular, nervous and nutritive apparatus in this class of animals, 
are of a higher organization than in any of the preceding. Some 
of the mammalia are aquatic, some are amphibious, and some 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 25 

terrestrial, with structures peculiarly suited to their several con- 
ditions and habits, yet all agree in having a vertebral column, 
with head and neck generally well- developed, — in having sim- 
ple respiration by means of thoracic lungs, in having warm 
blood — in producing their young alive ; and in nourishing them 
with milk from the mammas — which, according to their position, 
are called pectoral, abdominal or inguinal. 

The Cetaceans comprising Whales, Dolphins, &c. are the first 
order — and being the lowest are found in the water. Being aquatic 
they are assimilated to fish, in having a neck scarcely distin- 
guishable ; yet the fins are different in their location, and, when 
divested of their integuments, exhibit in the arrangement of the 
bones, the regular organization of human hands. In the hinder 
part of the trunk are exhibited bones which, in the higher orders, 
£Lre regularly developed into the pelvis. 

The Amphibia are the second order. They embrace the Seal, 
Walrus and Hippopotamus. The neck in these is better defined ; 
and we meet with both fore and hind legs — which, in the case 
of the walrus, are divided into toes. All the orders above this 
have four legs. 

The Ruminantia or those that chew the cud and live upon 
vegetables alone, have a less complicated arrangement of joints 
than the animals above them. They are a peaceful tribe ; and, 
for the most part, seek safety by flight, for which they are well 
constructed. Some of them have positive security in the en- 
dowment of Horns, as the Ox, the Sheep and the Deer. The 
feet of all Ruminants are cloven. 

The Solipeda, so called from having the hoof undivided, em- 
brace the Horse, Ass, Zebra, and Q^uagga ; which, though feed- 
ing on grass, do not chew the cud. These animals are intended 
for strength as well as fleetness ; and accordingly the arrange- 
ment of the bones of the foot is altered to meet this design. 

Pachydermata, or thick skinned animals, form the next order, 
and comprise the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Tapir, &c. Strength 
is the principal object had in view in the formation of these ani- 
mals, and accordingly we find, that the limbs are placed almost 
perpendicularly, a position which is the best adapted for support. 
In the case of the Elephant, the legs being required at all times 
to sustain the huge fabric — they could not be used for purposes 
4 



26 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND! 

of prehension or defence — and the head, from its immense 
weight, being connected to the trunk, by an exceedingly short 
neck, and consequently restricted to a small motive space, there 
was a necessity for a new organ to suit the purposes of prehen- 
sion and defence, which accordingly we find in the trunk, which 
is at once delicately sensitive, and endowed with great muscular 
power ; and is capable of being turned in any direction vertically, 
horizontally or towards the earth. 

The Rodentia follow next and are distinguished by sharp cut- 
ting fore-teeth, with which they gnaw off vegetables, shrubs 
and even trees, as in the case of the Beaver. The fore-legs of 
the Rodentia, and indeed of all the succeeding orders, being re- 
quired, not merely for progressive movement, but for seizing and 
holding, they are provided with a clavicle or collar-bone, attached 
to the scapula or shoulder-blade for the purpose of giving a more 
convenient motion to the limb in any direction. 

The Insectivora, which order succeeds, have no fore-teeth but 
grinders only ; for the purpose of crushing insects. Some of 
them as the mole have fore-arms that are large and flattened ; 
and exhibit a concave curvature exceedingly like that of the hu- 
man hand. We wish this regular approach to the human hand 
to be observed ; for the wonderful mechanism of that limb alone ; 
and its almost superhuman achievements in the varied conve- 
niences of life — in the speaking canvas and the breathing marble 
— proclaim the frame of man above that of every other creature — 
and demonstrate that 'we are fearfully and wonderfully made.' 

The Garni vora, consisting of the Plantigrada, or those which 
walk on the entire foot, as the Bear, and the Digitigrada or those 
which walk on the toes, as the Lion, Dog and Cat, have a more 
ample brain, superior acuteness of sense, and greater muscular 
power — all suited to their predaceous nature and necessary for 
entrapping and holding their prey. Their toes are five in 
number corresponding to those of man. 

The Cheiroptera or Bat has a thin membrane extending from 
its anterior extremities to the posterior, which fits it for flying. 
The anterior extremities resemble the fingers and thumb of the 
human hand. It has its name from its winged hands. 

The Quadrumannes or monkey tribe is the last and highest 
order of mere animals. They are called Quadrumanae or four- 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 27 

handed animals because their four extremities resemble hands. 
The general appearance of the Gluadrumannes is more conform- 
ed to the human figure than that of any other animal — the brain 
is larger and better developed — the bones of the arms are more 
like those of man ; and the hand is human, except that the 
thumb, the great mechanical organ of man, is but imperfectly 
developed ; and its muscles are weaker. The posture of the 
monkey, too — being half erect — occupies a middle state between 
the horizontal position of quadrupeds, and the erect carriage of 
man, with which under the name of Bimana, he is the connect- 
ing link. 

We have thus hurried through matter inanimate and animate 
vegetable, and animal ; and after a review of the order, regu- 
larity and beauty of the whole, we may well pronounce every 
thing good, as the great Creator did at the beginning. But 
creation did not stop here. The crowning excellence of his 
work was not done. At his bidding the earth and the sea had 
brought forth their respective inhabitants — then He himself, 
with his own divine hand, fashioned the frame of man — the 
bones with their curious articulations — the muscles for motion — 
the nerves for sensation — the vessels with their various fluids ; 
and breathing into it the breath of life, bade the pulses play, and 
constituted man a living soul ; and gave him dominion over the 
fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. 

In symmetry and adaptation of parts, in beautiful rotundity 
of limbs — in gracefulness of motion — in softness and delicacy of 
flesh, in transparency of skin — in roseate beauty of the mouth 
and pearliness of teeth — in harmonious development of the 
senses — in richness of voice — in brilliancy of the eye — in the 
elevation of his countenance, which is formed at once to look 
abroad upon the Earth, his dwelling place, and upwards upon 
the Heavens — his destiny — and in the mysterious expression 
which thought spreads over the features, Man stands immeasu- 
rably above the brute creation — the incarnate image of his God. 
But it is not in this alone that he excels all other creatures. 
In his spiritual nature he is lifted farther above them, than he is 
in his physical ; as will be seen when we come to contrast in- 
stinct with mind. 



28 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 

Under the name of Instinct we witness many operations of 
animals that are truly wonderful, exhibiting, by whatever means 
effected, great wisdom in design and skill in execution. We 
cannot but admire when we behold the bee agglutinate the wax 
for the construction of her cells — without scale or compass, form 
them in perfect hexagons, — store them with honey — conduct 
the general economy of her wonderful polity — and send out 
colonies from the parent state. Nor is the wonder less when 
we visit the curiously constructed hills of the ants. The busy 
hum of industry is there, and every thing is done in the most 
perfect regularity. We meet there with passions like our own — 
parental tenderness and paternal provision for the young — wars 
and slavery the consequence, in the persons of the vanquished — 
a prescience both of the coming winter and the coming storm — 
evinced by laying up food for the former, and at times remo- 
ving it, from fear of the latter. In the arrangement of the nests 
of birds in general, we see this skill displayed — especially in 
that of the Oriole or Baltimore bird — in the nest of the Tailor 
bird, which is formed by the skilful artist's sowing leaves to- 
gether, using her bill for a needle and fibres for thread ; and in 
the nest of the Loxia of Bengal, which is formed of two or three 
apartments, and lit up by lamps formed of fireflies. We recog- 
nize this mysterious impulse when the Armadillo forms itself 
into a coil and rolls down the highest precipices, to avoid the 
hunter — when the Drumfish, endangered, inflates his great 
drum, and presents, in his huge rounded and tense form, a mass 
that can neither be swallowed nor bitten through. We see it 
when the Antlion forms his huge funnel of loose earth, and sits, 
like the Tyrant of Syracuse at the huge prison ear, to catch 
the slightest noise of his approaching prey. We see it in the bal- 
loon which the Land Spider weaves to waft him through the air, 
and in the diving-bell in which the Water Spider explores the 
depths of the waters. In the motions and migration of animals 
we observe it — when the Salmon and the Herring come to the 
rivers fi'om the sea; and when, without chart to guide them or 
compass to direct their way, the Nightingale and Swallow seek 
the land of flowers, and the gregarious aquatics seek the regions 
of snows. We see it when the herds of Horses station their 
sentinels — when the Soldier-crabs move in soUd column over 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 29 

the plain, or the swarms of Locusts move in lines, with all the 
mechanism and regularity of an army, and, before encamping, 
send out videttes and engineers for selecting a place to settle 
upon, according to the most approved rules of castramentation. 
In a word we see it in all those actions which have for their 
object the nutriment and defence of the individual, and the pre- 
servation of the species, however these may be diversified by 
the peculiarities of the different animal tribes. 

We proceed now to consider what Instinct is, and the laws 
by which it acts. Various hypotheses have been formed to ac- 
count for it. Some have supposed all these apparent mani- 
festations of mind in animals to be the immediate agency of the 
Creator ; or, as the amiable Addison expresses it, that "God is 
the soul of brutes." If this were the case it would exalt the 
brute above man in the care which is bestowed upon it. But 
instincts are sometimes fallible, as when mother Goose sits upon 
a piece of chalk, mistaking it for an egg ; and when the flesh-fly 
mistakes the carrion plant for a putrid carcass, and deposites its 
eggs in it. This cannot be reconciled with the idea of unerring 
Truth being their director. Others again — philosophers and 
good men, suppose an intermediate agency of angels and de- 
mons — the former inciting to good actions and the latter to evil. 
Thus the Ursina Phoca, a species of Seal, influenced by the 
former, exhibits great paternal tenderness to the young, Avhile 
at the same time, incited by the latter, he acts the part of a bru- 
tal husband towards their mother, by beating her most unmer- 
cifully. Or, as a knowledge of this animal may not be common, 
we will suppose a case more familiar ; a dog, impelled by a good 
angel, caresses his master, and, urged by a demon, bites a 
stranger ; or the cow, under this diverse influence, very benevo- 
lently lets down her milk until the pail is full, and then malevo- 
lently kicks it over with her foot. This theory, I presume, in 
the connection in which it is stated, carries its own refutation 
with it. 

Having seen that the actions denominated instinct, are referi- 
ble neither to the immediate spirit of God, nor to the mediate 
spirit of angels and demons ; it is necessary that we should ac- 
count for them on other principles. It is evident that the more 
subtle matter is, the farther removed from the senses, and the 



30 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND: 

nearer it approaches the sphit, the more powerful it is. Thus 
any chemist will tell you fluids are more powerful than solids ; 
and gases more powerful than fluids ; and that the imponderable 
fluids light, caloric, electricty and galvanism, are more powerful 
than gases ; while beyond these again, pure spirit is more pow- 
erful than the imponderable fluids. Intermediate between pure 
spirit and these elements and agents, a power exists which may 
be denominated the Spirit of Nature or Spirit of Life. 
This all-pervading spirit, as an under agent of Providence, regu- 
lating the motions, changes and general phenomena of all things 
animate and inanimate, in a manner corresponding to their seve- 
ral natures, 

"Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze — 
Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees ; 
Lives through all life, extends through all extent — 
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.^' 

In going back to inanimate matter we find instinct even there. 
It exhibits itself not merely in the attraction of aggregation, but 
in the affinity and antipathy of substances. Thus sulphuric 
acid has an affinity for soda, lime, ammonia and magnesia in the 
order in which they are named ; but when combined with any 
one of these, will reject it, if either of the former substances be 
brought in contact with the mixture. In the formation of chrys- 
tals however it is more evident, for here it exhibits definite form. 
But it is in regular organisms that this Spirit of life or instinct, 
becomes most manifest, where in the seed of a plant or the 
ovum of an animal, it attracts matter, and acted upon by heat 
and moisture, assumes volume, and developes itself in roots, fibres 
and leaves in the case of the former ; and in flesh, muscles and 
bones in the case of the latter. What is it but this spirit of in- 
dividual life, which, exerting its assimilating powers, causes two 
seeds sown in the same earth, and imbibing the same light and 
atmosphere, to grow up into shrubs entirely different in shape, 
colors, juices and medical properties. 

The spirit of life whether it acts in vegetables or in animals 
observes the following laws — First — After materialization in the 
seed of the plant or the ovum of the animal, there is a power of 
motion (in the animal the punctum saliens) which continues 
until it is separated from the mass in which it is embedded, and 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 31 

becomes a separate individual — 2dly — There is the assumption 
of definite form and progressive growth, until maturity is attained 
— when lastly, there is a provision for the continuance of the 
species. These particulars then in relation to motion, nutrition 
and propagation, are common to vegetables as well as animals — 
the only difference is, that the former being destitute of sensa- 
tion — these operations are conducted more on the principles of 
inert matter to which vegetables have a nearer relation — while 
the same operations are carried on with animals, principally by 
means of their senses — which are acted on, somewhat after the 
manner of matter. Thus when terrapins hatched far from the 
water, or ducks, escaped from the shell, immediately seek their 
proper element, it is from no reasoning, no teaching whatever, 
but in consequence of a species of attraction between themselves 
and the water, like that of the magnet and the iron. The same 
reason will account in general for the selection of their food — 
they are irresistibly attracted to it. When in case of hunger the 
gastric juice attacks the stomach, or in case of thirst the absor- 
bents, acting like a sucking-pump, and not finding liquid to act 
upon, cause pain — the instinctive feeling of want puts the ani- 
mal in motion to seek food. Between the animal and its pro- 
per food , there is an instinctive sympathy which draws it to it — 
while an antipathy repels it from that which is hurtful. It is 
thus that cattle uniformly eat a certain number of herbs and 
reject all others ; and it is this sympathy and antipathy which 
always enable sheep to distinguish at once salt fi:om arsenic, 
which man cannot always readily do. It is this same influence, 
similar to that of the magnet in the mineral world, which en- 
ables the Reindeer to discover its proper food, though covered by 
the deepest snows. And this same will account for the hen's 
not being able to discern the difference between the chalk and 
her e^^ — because the chemical properties of chalk and of the 
Q^^ shell (between which and herself there is some indubitable 
connexion), are much the same. The similar apparent error, 
where the flesh-fly mistakes the carrion plant for the putrid 
carcass to deposit its eggs in, is owing to this chemical attrac- 
tion — for the plant has many of the chemical properties of the 
dead flesh. 



32 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND! 

Another remarkable fact in the history of instinct may be 
accounted for in the same way. The Sphex fabulosa always 
puts a spider in each cell, for its young to feed upon, and lays its 
eggs in the spider — now this apparently designed provision for 
its young may be simply the result of a kind of chemical attrac- 
tion between the Sphex and its victim. When animals wounded 
heal themselves by certain herbs, it is also owing to this mys- 
terious attraction. It is known that certain insects and fowls 
can prognosticate storms — Yirgil, that acute observer of Nature, 
in the 1st Book of the Georgics, notices this and assigns the true 
cause too. 

Not that I think their breasts with heavenly souls — 

Inspired as man who destiny controls, 

But with the chans^eful temper of the skies — 

As rains condense, and sunshkie rarefies 

So turn the species in their altered minds — 

Composed by calms, and discomposed by winds. 

When we recollect that the earth and sky, are in different 
electric states before a storm of rain, we can readily imagine 
that insects and reptiles — partaking largely of the nature of the 
earth, should feel the force of the same electrical phenome- 
na — and that fowls, filled to a very great extent by the atmos- 
phere, in their, quills, feathers and their bones, should like a 
storm-glass show the state of the weather. The same principle 
will account for the wonders of migration. Birds penetrated by 
the air obey its laws, and accordingly, as their nature requires a 
cold or warm temperature — follow simply the current of cold or 
warm air, and find the latitude suited to their natures. The pairing 
of birds and the hymeneal of animals, which generally take place 
in the spring, are owing to the genial warmth and fulness that 
are then flush throughout all nature. The migrations of fishes 
in the same manner are to be referred to the action of the ele- 
ment in which they live, and with which they are penetrated — 
obeying the impulses of their aquatic nature they are borne 
along by the currents, setting at one time towards the fresh 
water of the rivers and by the returning currents to the sea. 

On purely physical principles it will be seen we have accounted 
for many of the phenomena of instinct. In relation to others we 
think there is great exaggeration. A certain fish, with tentacles 
around its mouth like worms, is said to hide its body and, make 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 33 

these tentacles play ; so that fish mistaking them for worms may- 
be allured to it and thus be seized. The play of these tentacles 
is probably a mere motive recreation without any design at all — 
of course however, if prey did chance to be allured by it, the 
animal would seize them. The call of the Indicator Bird to the 
Honey Rattel and to man, when it finds a beehive, may be noth- 
ing more than a simple expression of joy — as the cry of the 
Rooster when he sees the hawk may not be a warning but an 
expression of fear. We are also told that the mocking-bird by 
imitating the voice of different male birds, calls their mates, and 
then mischievously frightens them with the scream of the eagle. 
In the varied exercise of its powers, birds, it is true, may be thus 
summoned and frightened ; but it would be preposterous to sup- 
pose it happened by the design of the mocking-bird. 

When insects form cells, birds nests, or beavers habitations, 
there is a higher development of instinct ; yet all this is effected 
without any design, on the part of the animals, and without their 
knowing the nature of the materials which they use, or the 
definite purpose of their labors. They obey an impulse which 
is absolute and which they can no more resist or control, than a 
plant can resist its own growth. Indeed the only distinction 
between the natural productions of a plant, as its leaves and 
fruit ; and the artificial productions of an animal as its cells or 
nest, is, that the spirit of life, in the case of the plant, by physi- 
cal action upon the world below it, forms, itself, the leaves and 
fruit ; while in the case of the animal the spirit of life not only 
forms the Umbs of the animal, but also incites it to act upon the 
Avorld below it again, and out of vegetable and inorganic matter 
to form nests, cells and huts. That these labors are the effect 
of a law of their nature, which they blindly and irresistibly fol- 
low — and are not to be attributed to reasoning faculties, may be 
proved by the following fact. The Caterpillar in the peculiar 
form and structure of the winding sheet it weaves for itself, pro- 
vides for a shape and developments entirely different from those 
of its earlier existence. We cannot for a moment believe that, 
in addition to reasoning faculties for the present, it has also a 
prophetic vision of the future, and hence it remains for us to 
attribute all these things to the spirit of life or plastic power 
which works by means of the animal, and produces them. 
5 



34 MATTER, INSTINCT, MIND! 

This view of the case is again proved by the fact that animals 
are not taught to perform these works by their parents ; but are 
born with capacities to do them. It is furthermore proved not 
to be'^the result of reasoning, — for there is no advancement — no 
gradual development — no progression from age to age — each 
taking advantage of the improvements of that which preceded it. 
Their forms, habits and productions — each nest and every cell — 
are the same as at the beginning of the world. The Tailor-bird 
with her ready needle, sews leaves together, probably with more 
neatness than Eve did the fig-leaf pantaloons of our greatgrand- 
father, but she has not yet learned to hemstitch or embroider, 
and she never will. The Beaver built huts, at the first, fully 
equal to the habitations of primitive man ; but his structures will 
never reach the majesty of St. Peter's or St. Paul's. 

The Nautilus, like an adventurous mariner, with oar and sail, 
skims over the sea; but has not yet learned to propel his bark 
by steam; and the Bombardier Beetle discharges his artillery, but 
he has not yet reached the excellence of Paixhan guns for point 
blank firing. The ants milk their aphides as we do our cows ; 
but they have not progressed so far as to make ice cream, or 
Dutch or even common cheese. They have their black ser- 
vants too, to wait upon them ; but, in the advance of their civili- 
zation, have not reached that avaricious state, in which their 
slaves are colonized, and reared expressly for traffic. 

The Baboon bears a walking stick, but he has not yet invent- 
ed the graceful curve of the "Hooky" which supports the exqui- 
site of the present day ; and, though he may carry it as a defence 
he does not with murderous intent, sharpen it like the savage ; 
and, in all probability, will never rise to the chivalry of sword 
canes that are borne by his congeners among the Bimanas. 

In the higher orders of warm-blooded animals — those that 
have five senses, and especially such as are carnivorous — their 
actions like those of man, seem more controlled by reason than 
instinct — so much so that we might almost be justified in call- 
ing it mind. Like man, the carnivorous animals are generally 
helpless at birth, and are, in some measure, taught by their 
parents — thus the cat teaches its young to mouse — the lion her 
cubs to hunt — and "the eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth 
over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings and taketh them 
on her wings and beareth them abroad." We find in these 



THEIR NATUREAND RELATIONS. 35 

higher animals, a gradual intellectual advancement as they grow 
older — their faculties evidently improved by the teaching of 
others,, by their own experience, and often by the eiForts of man ; 
yet all this circumscribed by a limit which they cannot pass. 
Some of the higher classes of animals have not only an instinc- 
tive love of their young, which is scarcely known among the 
cold-blooded animals ; but evince great power of memory, and 
even of higher faculties, of which the elephant, the horse, the 
dog, the parrot and carrier pigeon are striking examples. Many 
seem to exhibit feelings of humanity as gratitude, affection, 
anger, joy, sorrow and despair, of which many remarkable in- 
stances might be adduced. 

It is hard to think that the tenderness of the fawn, which is a 
pattern of maternal love — the gentleness of the dove, which is a 
type of conjugal affection — the fidelity of the dog — the generous 
spirit of the war-horse whose "neck is clothed with thunder — 
who saith among the trumpets ha ! ha ! and smelleth the battle 
afar off— the thunder of the captains and the shouting" — should 
be destined to annihilation, especially as they were immortal at 
their first creation, since death was not in the world, and inno- 
cently lost their estate by the sin of man, to whom, though 
guilty, immortality has been again restored. 

In the higher animals we find faint glimmerings that are els 
the twilight of mind, but in man we find its true light ; for he 
was made a "living soul." He has, it is true, the physical 
instincts of hunger, thirst, motion and the continuance of his 
kind ; but these do not, as in the animal, irresistibly control his 
will ; but are subordinate to it. He has not merely sensation 
and perception, like the animal, but apperception; and can 
comprehend, combine, compare, distinguish, reason, will and 
then execute. 

The animal has inarticulate cries, or at most but voice, as in 
the case of some insects and birds; but man has speech, that 
glorious attribute of his nature by which the fleeting shadows 
of the mind become distinct and palpable corporeities. In the 
exercise of his mental powers, by means of this faculty, he 
clothes his thoughts with words, which like a mantle of light 
reveal at once and beautify the forms which they invest. The 
animal seems confined to the passing present — but man has a 
three-fold existence. By the exercise of reason and the senses. 



36 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

he beholds and enjoys the world of life as it is spread out before 
him, — by the necromantic power of memory, he can call up the 
spirit of the buried past, and by the augur-wand of analogy and 
imagination, summon the shadows of the advancing future. It 
is the nature of instinct, in some measure, to control matter — 
but mind controls at once both matter and instinct. Man has 
dominion not only over earth and the elements, but over the 
fish of the sea, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. 

All nature conspires to gratify his senses — the earth and the 
heavens unroD themselves in beauty to his eye ; a varied feast 
allures his taste; fragrance breathes upon the air, and inanimate 
yet harmonious sounds, with the cries of beasts and the min- 
strelsy of birds, salute his ear. The earth yields its fruits, and 
animals their flesh for food, to fit him for labour ; and, when 
fatigued by it, he finds repose upon a couch that their covering 
has provided. He arrays himself in their productions. The 
skin of the savage — the fine linen, broadcloth, the silk and the 
satin of civilized man, and the purple of kings, with the pearls 
and coral of the ocean, and gems of the earth, are all supplied 
for his use by the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms. 
Nor does instinct labor for man actively alone ; as when the bee 
forms honey, or the silk worm spins its task — but passively also, 
when the ox turns up the furrow, the horse wheels the rapid 
car of pleasure or the chariot of war, and the camel and giant 
elephant carry their enormous loads. 

The elements he not only makes subservient to his purposes, 
but even triumphs over them. By proper clothing he alters, as 
it were, the climate, and changes, by fuel, the inclemency of 
Avinter to the genial warmth of spring, and, with almost crea- 
tive power, he says to chemical compounds, "let there be light, 
and there is light" that transforms the darkness of night to day. 
In pursuance of his designs of comfort and security, ingenuity 
has been busily engaged ; and after the club, bow and arrows, 
man has invented the hammer, the axe, the saw, the furnace and 
the mill to assist him in his labors — gunpowder, also, and those 

"Mortal engines whose rude throats 
Immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit." 

The various measures — the landmark, and coin the sign of ex- 
change ; and, binding the winds to his stately bark, or with the 
fire-breathing coursers of the steamship, by exchanging the 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 3T 

commodities of every clime, and thus making the productions 
of each zone common to the whole, he has reversed the decrees 
of Nature, and verified the prediction of the Ma.ntuan bard : 

"Omnis feret omnia tellus." 

These things, however, concern man's physical wants and 
his selfish interests ; but his mind is distinguished by nobler 
attributes. He has those social affections that consecrate Home 
by their sanctity, and widening in their sphere, give rise to the 
sacred love of country ; and, expanded still again, embrace all 
that bear the impress of humanity, in the wide bond of a com- 
mon benevolence. These social feelings inspire woman with 
those passive virtues that prompt conjugal devotion, and enable 
her to offer up all selfishness upon the altar of maternal love. 
These inspire the active impulses of man, when, as the father, 
he labors for his fireside and hearth-stone ; or, as the citizen 
pours out his blood a solemn Hbation for the public weal. And 
these sustain the patriot in his love of Uberty and country amid 
all the sacrifices and exertions he is called to make ; and enable 
the philanthropist, in his love of man, to do and suffer, as he 
bears his message of truth and mercy o'er regions of endless 
snow, or the burning sands of the desert. 

To guard his proprietary rights and these social privileges, 
man has formed poHties and invented laws; and enthroning 
Justice on her tribunal, has committed to her hands the scales 
and the sword. Thus have risen successively the rev^erend 
policy of patriarchal authority, the proud domination of royalty, 
the splendors of aristocratic sway, and the mild majesty of 
republican rule, where man, in the true dignity of his nature, 
exercises his equal and unalienable rights. And in their public 
regulations — the decrees of the convocation and the court — the 
enactments of the senate and the hall, and the decisions of the 
forum, man has found a guaranty for the security of his person 
and possessions, and eats the fruits of his labour in peace, in 
the shade of his vine and fig tree, beneath the guardian care 
of the civil power at home, or in the protection of the law of 
nations, is wafted in safety o'er the deep, beneath that ensign, 
in whose foldings slumber the lightnings of a nation's power. 

But the mind of man has higher aims than the gratification 
of physical wants and social pleasures. He has an innate de- 
sire for knowledge — an inward craving for an acquaintance with 



38 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

the world around him. He loves to investigate the works of 
creation, and to search into the mysteries of his own spirit and 
of those that are superior. He requires Nature not only to yield 
her treasures, but disclose her secrets ; and before the hammer 
and the fire, the retort and crucible, her elemental wonders have 
been laid bare. He has proceeded to investigate the nature and 
laws of matter and spirit, until the whole circle of the sciences 
has been evolved. He has not through skill compelled the 
earth merely to afford food for sustenance, but by a knowledge 
of herbs and minerals he has assuaged suffering and prolonged 
life. And when the spirit has departed, calling Galvanism to 
his aid, with Promethean power, he has, for a time, animated 
the lifeless clay. Having discovered the properties of the mag- 
net, he has invented the compass, which, with a power like that 
of Deity, to whom the darkness is as noon-day, enables the ship 
to wing her pathless ocean way without moon or glimmering 
star. Weighing the air in balances, he has mounted the lighter 
chariot of the balloon, and like the fabled Daedalus, sailed 
through the air "pennis non datis homini." With infant As- 
tronomy, Mind has gazed upon the stars from the heights of 
Babylon, almost burst the trammels of the flesh when, with 
Newton, it has lifted the telescope and peered within the vesti- 
bule of the Eternal, and has seemed endowed with the power 
of Omnipotence, when with Davy it has walked unhurt amid 
the fire-damp, or, with Franklin, has grasped the forked light- 
nings as a plaything, and smiled serenely at the thunders, as 
smiles an infant at its rattle. Man has invented the telegraph, 
and transmits thought along its iron nerves with the speed of 
electricity — to Time, that once glided by on noiseless wings, he 
has given an iron tongue and a finger that, pointing to the hours 
as they pass, reminds him of eternity — while for speech, a pro- 
minent characteristic of his nature, he has formed visible signs, 
those enunciators of his thoughts by which he can speak from 
pole to pole. These signs, by means of paper and the printing 
press, are the implements of History — perpetuate and extend 
knowledge, and, cariying light and truth, rouse man to a sense 
of his innate dignity, from the hovel to the palace, and bid 
Tyrants tremble on their thrones. 

But further still, the mind of man, forecasting its destiny and 
developing its immortal poAvers, cannot be bound by the actual 



THEIR NATURE AND RELATIONS. 39 

world, wide and wonderful as it is — but revels in the regions of 
imitation and ideality. Thus rose the Sculptor's art and ad- 
vanced in beautiful gradation, sublimating the human form, 
until Pygmalion wooed the production of his own chisel, and 
Grecian Superstition saw revelation reversed, in finding gods 
made in the likeness of man. Thus sprang Painting with its 
imitations of color, as well as of form, and the sister arts of 
Engraving and Lithography, with that mysterious process, of 
latter discovery, by which the Sun solidifies and stamps, as it 
were, the impalpable shadow. 

To this ethereal action of the mind, we are indebted for the 
inspirations of Poetry — the solemn grandeur of Homer — the 
mellifluous sweetness of Virgil, the majesty of Milton — the wild 
imaginings of Dante — and the impersonations of Shakspeare. 
And to this we owe Music with its powers of exalting or subdu- 
ing the soul — the sweetness of Hayden — the boldness of Beetho- 
ven — and the melancholy, grandeur of Mozart, over Avhose 
strings death almost relented, as he sung his own wild requiem. 

But the wishes and aspiration of man's mind, do not stop 
here ; he lives, not for time, but for eternity — and feels conscious 
that his mental and moral faculties, however developed and 
expanded here, are but in the rudiments of their existence, and 

that when his material part shall go down to the grave "dust 

to dust" — his immortal mind, heightening in poAver, brightening 
in glory — shall ascend through higher orders of spirits — cheru- 
bim and seraphim and the whole angelic host that intervene 
between him and Deity, perchance making star after star its 
abode — till it reach the throne of Eternal and see God as he is. 

Gentlemen of the Maryland Institute of Education! 
You belong to a profession whose duty it is to nurture and 
direct the opening energies of the human mind — a sacred trust 
— a solemn responsibility. To you are committed in a great 
measure, not only, the interests of those under your care ; but 
the well-being of society in general ; for the impetus which you 
give to the opening faculties of youth are likely to continue ; — 
your exertions form the moral orbits in which they are to move 
through life, diffusing abroad the mild and steady hght of truth 
and virtue ; or shedding dismay and pestilence, in their wild 
erratic course. And though your unobtrusive virtues be neither 
regarded nor rewarded as they should, take to yourselves this 



1 / 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 331 872 

40 MATTER, INSTINCT, mind: 

consolation and encouragement, that it is by means of letters and 
the labors of Teachers, primarily, that civilization with all its 
accompanying blessings, shall overspread the world. 

Though your honorable profession may not occupy in the 
world, the rank to which it is entitled — though assemblies may 
not rise up to you, as they did to the ancient masters of the 
Academy and Portico ; and though your stipends be doled out 
to you by Shillings instead of Talents, persevere in your lau- 
dable pursuits, let the peaceful sense of an honest discharge of 
duty be the guerdon of your toils, and know, that each day's 
labor, each hour's instruction impresses a power upon the mind, 
which shall be felt through the world, and reach even to the 
throne of God. 

In conclusion — there was a time when, in all probability, the 
matter of which our Globe is composed, and all the suns and 
systems above us, were one mobile mass, which mass was dis- 
ruptured by the word of Deity into innumerable portions that 
revolving in fixed orbits hence became round, and retained by 
the attraction of gravitation, have still continued their appointed 
motions. And in all probability a time will come, when the 
same hand which suspended the spheres, will again unchain 
them, and the Earth and all the planetary systems — each sun 
and star that glimmers through the dim distance of space — will 
be again united — and, purified by fire and expanded to immen- 
sity, be made a habitation for the Creatures and Creator of 
the Universe. And in the exercise of the power and benevo- 
lence of God, who shall say that each beautiful flower and shrub 
that has fallen beneath the scythe of Time, shall not again lift 
up its head, for the decoi^tion of the new world ; and that each 
animal, which at the beginning was innocent, happy and im- 
mortal, shall not have its hfe renewed, when mortal man shall 
put on immortality ; and that he, who with his angels did not 
scorn to mingle with Matter, Instinct and Mind, in the garden 
of Eden, may not again dwell with them, with the glorious 
assemblage of cherubim and seraphim ; and thus etherealized 
MATTER, SUBLIMATED INSTINCT and GLORIFIED MIND be gathered 
round the throne of Him, who is himself the Sun and Centre of 
MIND. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 331 872 



